Washing-machine.



PATENTBD MAY 21. 1907.

I L OWENS. WASHING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED NOV. 21, 1905.

Wi [we 0% UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

WASHING-MACHINE.

Lpplioatixi ilCl November 21,1905.

To all whom it nuty concern:

Be it known that I, IRA LEONARD OwENs, of Eflingham, county of Atchison, State of Kansas, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in WVashing-Hachines, of which the following is a specification.

The object of my invention is to produce improvements in washing machines of the pounder type whereby the efficiency of the machine is increased and whereby the power necessary to drive the machine is automatic ally accommodated to the load or work required of the machine.

My invention belongs to the class of washing machines in which the reciprocatory motion required of the pounder in the performance of its office is obtained by conversion of rotary motion derived from a member that is rotative continuously in one direction. Various machines of this general description are known in the art, which also includes machines for imparting to a reciprocatory agitator motion about the axis of the rod upon which the agitator is mounted and by whose movement it is actuated. My invention, be-

- ing especially applicable to machines of the pounder type, is designed and adapted to impart motion but slightly departing from true reciprocatory movement while the pounder is moving up and down; to impart to the pounder a positive shift of position whenever the pounder reaches the lower limit of its travel and thereby to stir the washable contents of the tub; and to impart to the pounder at the upper limit of its reciprocatory movement a minimum of rotative motion.

My invention, as has been set forth in the foregoing general statement, also includes means for automatically adjusting the load of the machine to its driving power, which preferably consists of a spring-balanced connection between the driving member and the pounder, and also in means for adjusting, if desired, the tension of said spring-balanced connection.

In the accompanying drawing which forms a part of this application, Figure I is a sectional view of a tub with a pounder and with driving mechanism, wherein is embodied, in preferred. form, my invention, in elevation. Fig. II is a detail perspective view of the preferred form of embodiment of driving gear for converting and transmitting the desired motion from a rotatory shaft to the pounder rod of my machine. Fig. 111 is a reverse Specification of Letters Patent.

Patented May 21, 1907.

Serial No. 288,349.

view of the subject matter of Fig. II showing the spring-b alanced means of connecting the intermediate actuating member to the pounder-rod. Fig. IV is a section of the line IVIV of Fig. 11 looking downwardly.

Referring to the numerals on the drawing, 1 indicates a tub or other suitable receptacle provided with a lid or cover 2, upon which is securely mounted an upright 3 and brace 4.

5 indicates an upright, parallel to the upright 3 and held in fixed relations thereto as by brace 6. The uprights 3 and 5 are pro vided respectively with boxes 7 and 8 in which is mounted a shaft 9 to the outer end of which is fixed a driving member, for example, a wheel 10 provided with a crankhandle 11.

indicates a pounder-rod, to the lower end of which in the tub 1 is secured a pounder 16 and which is loosely mounted in vertical co-axial bearings 17 and 18 in the lid 2 and the deflected end 19 of the upright 3 respectively.

20 indicates an intermediate actuatingmember provided at the top and bottom, re-

spectively, with projections 21 and 22,

through apertures in which the pounder-rod 15 passes. The actuating-member is pro vided with a guide-slot 24, which is continuous save for the presence at the top and bottom, respectively, of the actuatingn1e1n ber, of bridge-pieces 25 and 26.

27 indicates the end of the shaft 9, which, entering the slot 24, serves to hold the intermediate actuating-member and the shaft 9 in operative relationship one with the other.

28 indicates a series of cogs with which the actuating-111ember is provided in juxtaposition to the slot 24 and with which a suitable pinion 29, fixed-to the inner end of the shaft 9 adjacent to its end 27, meshes.

The shape of the slot 24 and of the series of cogs 28, which conforms to the shape of the slot, may be varied, but I prefer the form illustrated, which is that somewhat resembling an inverted triangle. I prefer that form because if the intermediate actuatingnnember be secured to the pounder-rod 15, the rotation of the pinion 29 will serve to impart to the said rod and its pounder 16 a movement which is substantially a true reciprocatory movement. When the pounder reaches its lower limit of movement and when it is thereby forced down upon the washable contents of the tub, it derives from the rotation of the pinion 29 through engagement therewith of the inverted base of the triangular series of cogs 28, a rotative movement about the axis of the rod 15, which in practice should be about one-quarter of a revolution. The purpose of said rotation of the pounder is to stir the contents of the tub and to set the pounder in a new position against the washable contents of the tub with each complete reciprocation of the pounder. Moreover, the slight departure of the ascending and descending movements of the pounder from the line of true reciprocation serves gently with regularity and without excessive abrasion of the pounder against the washable contents of its tub to keep said contents turning in the tub during the operation of the machine and thereby to insure the action of the pounder against every portion of the surface of the material to be washed within the tub.

It has been specified that the operation described ensues in consequence of connection between the intermediate actuating-member 20 and the plunger-rod 15. Such connection may be an imyielding one, but I prefer to make it a yielding connection and to provide a spring-balanced connection between the member 20 and the rod 15. For that purpose, I provide about the rod a collar 30, which may be secured thereto as by a wingbolt 31 adapted to enter any one of a series of indentations 52" provided for its reception in the rod 15 (see Fig. III). The collar 30 carries on one side, preferably on the side opposite to the wing-bolt 31, a projection 32, which enters a slot 33 provided for it in the member 20. The said member is yieldingly supported upon the collar as by oppositely coiled-springs 34 and seated against opposite sides of the collar respectively and against the projections 22 and 21, respectively. The collar 30 being secured to the rod 15 by its wing-bolt 31 serves by aid of the projection 32 thereon to communicate to the rod 15 any movement in a rotative direction which may be transmitted to it from the pinion 29. In like manner it derives reciprocatory movement from the same source; but it yields in its reciprocatory movement proportionately to the resistance afforded thereto. If, for instance, the pounder in its descending movement meets with excessive resistance, the spring 34 will yield in proportion to the degree of such resistance. If, on the other hand, the suction upon the pounder 16 is such as to occasion excessive resistance in its upward movement, spring 35 will yield. In that manner the power necessary to drive the machine is accommodated to the load on the machine and shock or strain on the mechanism is prevented. By adjustment of the position of the collar 30 up on the rod 15, the pounder 16 may be adjusted up or down within the tub 1, to suit the bulk of the contents of the tub without in anywise interfering with the operativeness of the mechanism.

The operation of my machine will, it is believed, be apparent from the foregoing specification, and further detailed description thereof is deemed unnecessary.

What I claim is:

1. In a washing machine, the combination with a receptacle, pounder, pounder-rod, and intermediate actuating-member opera tively connected therewith and provided at opposite ends with projections and an intermediate slot, of a collar upon the rod having a projection working in said slot, means of securing the collar to the rod, and springs between said projections and the collar, respectively, on opposite sides thereof.

2. In a washing machine, the combination with a receptacle, pounder, pounder-rod, and intermediate actuating-member operatively connected therewith and provided at opposite ends with projections and an intermediate slot, of a collar upon the rod having a projection working in said slot, adjustable means of securing the collar to the rod, and springs between said projections and the collar, respectively, on opposite sides thereof.

3. In a washing machine, the combination with a receptacle, pounder, pounder-rod, and rotative driving mechanism, provided with a pinion, of an intermediate actuating-member adapted operatively to connect the driving mechanism to the rod, and provided with a series of cogs so disposed with respect to said pinion as to impart to the pounder a shift of position at its lower limit of travel and a minimum of rotative motion at its upper limit of reciprocatory movement.

4. In a washing machine, the combination with a receptacle, pounder, pounder-rod, and rotative driving mechanism, provided with a pinion, of an intermediate actuating-member adapted operatively to connect the driving mechanism to the rod, and provided with a series of cogs disposed in the form resembling an inverted triangle substantially as and for the purpose specified.

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my name in the presence of two subscribing witnesses.

IRA LEONARD OWENS.

Witnesses:

E1) MOORE, J. A. IIANNAN. 

